


Once upon a time

by Mondaycoupleforever



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-07-01 05:12:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15767304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mondaycoupleforever/pseuds/Mondaycoupleforever
Summary: Clarke and Bellamy get trapped in the 1800 while on a school trip to Scotland. Inspired by Outlander.





	1. The drumming

**Author's Note:**

> This story is inspired by Outlander, I don't know much about Scotland so this won't be an accurate representation of the country in the 1800, so please bear with me if you find any anomalies.

My heart was beating out of my chest as they starting calling passengers to board the plane. I did not like flying, anything that put me in a position of not being in control was something that displeased me very much. 

“Looks like our princess is afraid of flying.” I heard the heckling coming from behind me, but I did not have to turn around to see whom was responsible for it. I thought I was doing good keeping my nerves under control, turns out they were more apparent than intended. 

“Or is it cause you’re flying economy with the rest of us peasants.” After two year I would have hoped that Bellamy Blake would have found a new target to annoy, but it seemed he could not get enough of me. After my family and I moved to the small town of Arcadia two years ago we had become the source of many hushed conversation. My mother was a famous surgeon and my father an engineer, so everyone was curious as to why we had moved away from the city to this small town in the middle of nowhere. Rumors varied from us being Russians spies to being on the run from the mob. I had heard everything, but the rumor that got the most of my nerves and that never died down was that I was a princess escaping persecution. Bellamy had of course been the source of that particular rumor and from the day I started at Grounder High he had called me princess and most people stayed away from me not wanting to get involved with the strange girl with a secretive past. Truth was my parents needed a break, they were always working and barely had time for each other even less for me, so when my father started feeling depressed they decided to move here and take jobs that would allow us more time as a family. I was glad to see them happier, but I could not wait to leave this town for college and go back to being a faceless person in the crowd.

“Blake don’t you have anything better to do, leave Clarke alone.” 

“Just leave him Raven, after this trip I never have to see him again.” Raven had been the one good thing to come out of this place. She had dismissed all the rumors and come up to me to ask why we had really moved here. I told her the truth and she believed me, we have been friends ever since. She didn’t take any nonsense from people and I loved that about her. I had also made friends with Monty and Jasper, who said they didn’t care what had brought me here, that I was cool and that’s all they needed. I tried numerous times telling them the truth, but they always told me to stay quiet, not wanting to bring the mob down on the town. I could never figure out if they were serious or just playing along. It didn’t matter, the three of them had allowed me to have an amazing senior year. We were on our way to Scotland for our senior trip, one week away from Arcadia to enjoy the last few days I had with my friends before I moved away for school. If only Bellamy could have stayed behind it would be so much better. 

“You know Clarke I’ve told you before he only teases you because he …”

“Wants me… I know Jasper so you keep saying. But if and that is a big if, that were true that would just prove how much of an idiot he is. Picking on the one you like is what five-year-old’s do.” 

Thankfully once we were seated I was at the opposite end from Bellamy so despite being nervous about flying at least I did not have the added annoyance of having to deal with him. 

I managed to sleep a few hours, but I was glad when we finally landed. A bus was waiting to take us to our final destination and it was hard to miss the excitement in the air as we drove through the Scottish Highlands. It was a breathtaking place to be. The inn we were staying in was really charming, we were 22 students from Arcadia so we basically took over the entire place. 

Since we were only going to be here one week, the trip organizers had booked as much stuff as possible in a very short amount of time. Tomorrow we would be walking through the mountains and I could not wait. 

The next morning, I woke up very early, Raven was still sound asleep next to me as I got ready for my morning run. The Inn was located in a small village just at the base of a very impressive mountain, there was a trail leading all the way to the top. The trail was perfect for running. Just as I was about to set off the backdoor to the inn opened, and Bellamy walked out dressed in sportswear.

“Princess fancy meeting you here, I did not take you for the running type.” Just my luck of all the people to come interrupt me it had to be him. 

“Don’t you have someone else you could be annoying right now.”

“Clarke how can you say that you are by far my favorite person to annoy, why would I bother with anyone else when you’re the only one that gets this particular shade of red on her cheeks every time.”

“You are infuriating.”

“Please if I hadn’t been around the past two years our boring little town would have driven you mad. I’m just keeping things interesting. Now are we going to stand here all day or are we going to find out who runs faster.” And just like that Bellamy took off, not one to backdown from a challenge I sprinted after him. As he was much taller than me it took more effort on my part to catch up to him and keep up. 

“So have you picked were you’re going to go to college yet?”

“Why do you need to know? Are you planning on following me there so you can continue to torture me?”

“Come on Clarke I’m just trying to be polite and make conversation.”

“That would be a first.” Bellamy chuckled at my joke and then we fell in a comfortable silence, running side by side. It was strange to not be at each other’s throats for once. I guess it really was the end of an era. I stole a few glances in Bellamy’s direction, as much as I despised him there was no ignoring how good he looked, especially in those shorts. If I could keep him quiet for a few minutes I would love nothing more than to run my fingers in his silky hair. 

“Princess it’s not polite to stare.” Oh shit, caught. Dare I admit that I was checking him out. That would make his ego even bigger than it already was and nobody needed that. Lying was the best course of action to get me out of this embarrassing situation. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, I was enjoying the scenery.”

“You keep telling yourself that, but I’m sure you wouldn’t mind getting a piece of this.” As Bellamy was showing off his body I lost my balance tripping over a small rock. Being right on the edge of the path that’s all it took to start tumbling downhill. I could hear Bellamy yelling my name as I tried to grab on to anything to slow down my fall, lucky it was grass all around me and it did not seem like I had any apparent injuries when I was finally able to stop tumbling down the hill. I checked myself over, and apart from a hurt pride and multiple bruise that were sure to appear in the morning I was fine. Bellamy was still calling for me, and his voice was getting closer, he was coming down the hill to make sure I was ok. I had half expected him to leave me here and continue with his run.

“Clarke are you alright? Let me check your foot to see if it’s bruised or broken. Do you think you can walk? Should I go get help? My god say something.”

“I would but you’re hardly giving me a chance, I think you’re worried enough for the both of us.” I smiled back at him, trying to hold my laughter back at his face full of worry. 

“Well yes, sorry for being a little worried at seeing you fall down a hillside, next time I’ll just leave you to take care of yourself. It’s what you do best anyway, isn’t it?”

“What’s that supposed to mean. I didn’t mean to upset you Bellamy, my god just when I was thinking we could get along you go and overreact. I should have known better.” I tried getting up, which was harder than it looked after the fall I took, there was no way I was climbing back up to the path, I would have to find another way to get back up there. I turned back at Bellamy waiting to see if he would just leave me here, but he was not moving. As soon as I started walking away he seem to come back to life and catch up to me.

“Do you want me to carry you?” He asked shyly.

“I thought you had made it clear that I like to do things on my own and don’t need anyone’s else help.”

“Look I’m sorry I just, you caught me off guard and I don’t quite know how to act around you right now.”

“Let’s just forget about it and get back to the inn.” We walked for what seemed like hours, my foot was causing me great discomfort and everywhere I looked everything was the same. We continued walking in silence for maybe another 10 minutes when Bellamy voiced what we were both thinking.

“I think we’re lost.” 

“That sounds about right. I’m sorry I got you into this mess, maybe you should have just left me and continued on your own.” 

“Well I did distract you with my sexy body so I’m partly at fault.” I burst out laughing and so did he. Between him joking around to make me feel better and the absurdity of our situation, I couldn’t help it. We both calmed down after a few minutes and I think slowly started to realize that this could quickly become a dangerous situation if we didn’t find help quickly. 

“How are they going to find us? We are way off the path.”

“We’ll figure something out.”

“Bellamy.” I gently pulled on his arm to make him stop. “You might have to leave me here.” 

“Clarke I can’t. I might act like a jackass half the time, but I could never leave you out here all alone.”

“Just consider it ok, you’ll have a better chance of finding help on your own.” He remained quiet after my proposal, it was obvious he did not want to leave me behind, but I think he also feared what would happen if we were stuck spending the night outside exposed to the elements. 

The sun was starting to set when we truly realized how desperate our situation was. We were going to have to spend the night outside. 

“Let me run up ahead and see if I can’t find a spot for us to rest.” As I watched him get further away from me I couldn’t help to worry that he wouldn’t come back. I knew I had proposed something similar before but seeing the sun go down I really didn’t want to be left alone. He was only gone a few minutes but it felt like hours. When he did return he had a smile on his face.

“I found a cave, come on we can rest there for the night and tomorrow morning find our way back, I’m sure by now they’ve sent people to look for us.” 

It wasn’t perfect and the air was beginning to feel much colder as the sun went down but we would at least be safer than outside. Bellamy had insisted that we sleep next to each other to preserve as much heat as possible. I could not find it in myself to be disgusted by the idea as I once would have. I finally managed to get a little sleep, only to be woken up by this weird drumming sound. At first, I was thinking it might be a rescue crew, but the drumming was drawing me further into the cave, I continued to follow it until I reached some kind of underground pool of water. How could the drumming be coming from there I wondered? Whatever it was it was drawing me nearer. Just as I was about to plunge in, a hand held me back. 

“Clarke what are you doing.”

“Don’t you hear it Bellamy, the drumming? It’s like it’s calling me.” The water was shinny and felt so inviting, I pulled my weight forward trying to reach it. Bellamy was still holding onto me, but he must have lost his footing, because as I hit the water his hand was still holding onto my wrist.


	2. Not in Kansas anymore

I could feel myself sinking further into the water when I felt this sudden urge to get back to the surface. I swam back up as fast as I could. Bellamy had already pulled himself out of the water and was holding out his hand trying to grab a hold of me.

“Clarke what the hell were you thinking, you don’t think we’re in enough trouble right now without submerging yourself in water.” 

“Sorry I can’t explain what happened it’s like I was being pulled towards the water. I know it makes no sense, but it’s the best way to describe what I was feeling.” 

“You must be in more pain than you’re letting on, and it’s affecting your mind. Come on the sun is getting up we better find our way back before we both freeze.” The sun did help to dry us a little, but we were not in a great position. Finally, we spotted someone, a shepherd of some short judging by all the sheep surrounding him. 

“Stay here. I’ll go ask if he can bring us back to the inn.” I was too far away from them to hear what was being said, but the longer they talked the more Bellamy’s face turned into one of confusion. Was the man refusing to help? 

“What did he say? Can he take us back?” 

“He said he doesn’t know the inn I’m talking about, but that he could take us to Scone Palace. Apparently, the Viscount of Stormont would be the best person to help us find our way back.”

“Wait weren’t we supposed to visit that place yesterday after the hike, it’s perfect I’m sure they can guide us back to the group.” Bellamy still looked pretty confused, I couldn’t understand why he was not more excited by the news. Then I realized what seemed odd with his statement. “What does he mean by the Viscount of Stormont, there hasn’t been an owner to the Scone Palace in over 200 years.”

“I was wondering the same thing, Monty has been rambling on about this place for weeks and I’m pretty sure he mentioned that numerous times. Maybe it’s an honorary title for the person taking care of the place.”

“Maybe, but something else is bothering you.”

“I don’t know, it’s probably nothing, but the man was dressed strangely. And I find it odd that someone that lives around here would not know the only inn for miles.”

“What do you mean dressed oddly?”

“It’s like he was pulled right out of the 1800.”

“Maybe he works for the museum at Scone Palace, I wouldn’t be surprised if the employees dressed in period clothing.”

“Then why is he here taking care of a bunch of sheep?” Bellamy was right this whole thing was starting to sound stranger by the minute. 

“Should we not go with him? Bellamy you’re freaking me out.” 

“We don’t really have another option now do we. Let’s just stay alert. Are you ok to walk?”

“Yes, I feel much better this morning. Probably won’t be able to go for a run for a few more days, but walking should be fine.” 

We waited as the man gathered his sheep and started walking towards an unknown future. Scone Palace was visible way before we even reached it. It stood there a grandiose monument in the middle of nowhere. There were no apparent roads leading to it, unless you counted the dirt one that seemed to have been made by multiple horses coming and going from the house. My feeling of uneasiness only increased as we approached the building. It looked beautiful unaffected by the years as it should have. 

The man dropped us off at the door, spoke to the two soldiers standing guard and wished us luck before leaving. Bellamy and I shared a glance as the two men escorted us inside, they were also dressed strangely. I tried to calm myself down by thinking it was probably part of the experience the museum wanted to provide for its guest, but their unfriendly attitude and lack of manners made that incredibly unlikely. Once the doors opened we were faced with a courtyard that was buzzing with activity, everyone without exception was dressed in period outfits, going about their daily lives. No one spared a glance in our direction, there was no technology in sight or any sign of modern living. 

The guards informed us that we were to stay here while they went to announce our presence to the Viscount. Just as they were about to leave I decided ripping the band aid off was better than speculating about the possibilities. 

“Excuse me, but can you tell me what year this is?” The guard looked at me as if I had suddenly grown three heads.

“It’s 1809, I know you English people are a funny bunch but to not know what year you are living in that’s just strange.” This could not be happening 1809, how was that even possible. As crazy as it sounded time traveling was the only thing that could help explain all the strange things we had encountered since coming out of that water. It reminded me of an old quote; once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbably, must be the truth. I had the face the truth it was impossible that we were still in 2018, so no matter how outrageous the idea of time travel sounded it seemed to be the only option we had left. 

The guard looked hesitant to walk away after my question, as if he feared my craziness would spread to everyone around me. After glancing back at us a few times he finally disappeared in the imposing building. 

“Where the fuck are we?” I asked out loud without realizing it as my brain was slowly coming to terms with my sudden realization. When the fuck are we seemed to be a more accurate description of our current predicament. 

“Well we’re not in Kansas anymore that’s for sure.” Bellamy replied with a grin, trust Bellamy to make a joke when we were in clear danger.

“We were never in Kansas genius.” I shot back angrily at him, I needed him to take this seriously. 

“Calm down princess don’t get your panties in a twist it was just a joke. You really need to chill.”

“Chill, Bellamy nothing about this situation makes it possible for me to chill.”

“You’re right, we seem to have stubbled very far from home, but freaking out is not going to help solve anything. Clarke you’re starting to draw attention to us, and if we’re going to survive any of this it is essential that we do not draw any attention to ourselves. We need to calmly think about this and find a way back.” I couldn’t believe Bellamy was being the calm and rational one when I seemed to be losing it. As much as I hated to admit it he was right. Arguing in the middle of these strangers would not be of any help and might even get us into more trouble. Unlike what I had initially believed we were drawing attention, and I was not too comfortable with the way some of these men we’re looking at me. I looked down at my outfit and suddenly felt very subconscious about my attire. The women here we’re all wearing these long dresses that seemed to cover every inch of their body and I was standing there in leggings and a tight top. Bellamy took notice as well and moved in front of me to try and hide me.

“Clarke, we need to come up with a plan, the guards are going to be back soon with the owners of this place, and we have no luggage with us and are practically naked compared to everyone else here.”

“What do you propose?”

“Well first we’ll never pull off any accents, so we need to say we’re from the states. They might still refer to the US as the colonies even though at this point we’ve already won the revolutionary war and became a new country.” I couldn’t help but giggle at Bellamy’s intensity. 

“What?” My outburst distracted him from his train of thought. 

“Didn’t know you were such a history nerd.” 

“Clearly you don’t know everything about me princess, I’m full of surprises.”

“I’m starting to see that.” 

“So, as I was saying before I was interrupted to be made fun of.” Bellamy was smiling clearly not upset by my comment. “We can then tell them that we were visiting the old country and that we got lost and robbed and now we have nowhere to go. With any luck they take pity on us and let us stay here while we try to figure out a way home. I think the key is the pool of water in the cave that might be our best bet to get home. We just have to find it again.”

“Why would these people even want to help us, they don’t know us they own us nothing.”

“I think we have a better chance of this succeeding if they believe we’re nobility.” Bellamy looked pensive for a minute. “Clarke, don’t freak out but I think we should say we’re married.”

“Married? Why do we have to be married, they will never believe us we’re way too young anyway.”

“First in this time period it’s not usually to have people marry this young. Second, Clarke look around at how the men are looking at you. We’re not in our time, a single girl like you with no one to claim her, god knows what they would do to you if they managed to get you alone.” 

“It’s not like we’re in the middle of nowhere. These people look very civilized.” 

“Right cause civilized men never engage in such behavior? I mean look at what you’re wearing, anyone in their right mind would be attracted to you.” I raised an eyebrow questioning his meaning. Loving the blush that appeared on his cheeks. 

“Not me of course, as you love pointing out I’m not in my right mind. All I’m saying is that men in this time tend to think they are above women and won’t hesitate to leave you ruined.”

“We’ll Blake you almost sound concern.” I could feel a shift in his demeanor, Bellamy had always been the type to say everyone should do as they please with no regard for order and rules. He never took anything seriously in life, for the first time I could see real worry in his features. His face was set, begging me to go along with his plan. In this moment if I had the choice I wouldn’t have wanted to be stuck here with anyone else but him. I could see it in his eyes I would be safe with him and together we would find a way home. 

“Ok.” I whispered softly to him, not trusting my voice at the moment. We locked eyes for a moment until we noticed everyone’s attention around us seemed to have moved towards the front steps. There stood three people, all elegantly dressed. Bellamy took hold of my hand and squeezed it. We needed to pull this off, god knew what they would do to us if they believed we were from the future. Were witch-hunts a thing in this time period. I really should have paid more attention in history class.


	3. Money trouble

As I grabbed hold of Clarke’s hand my attention drifted to the three people walking towards us. Dressed in fine clothes it was clear who was in charge as soon as they stepped into view. The guard that had let us in was following from behind, I wasn’t sure what he had told them about us but judging from the way the three of them were looking at us with suspicion it could not have been anything good. I presumed the older looking man that was walking at the head of the family had to be the Viscount of Stormont. Following behind him I could only assume were his wife and son. Out of the three the wife seemed the most displeased by our arrival, clearly unconvinced to have been disturbed to greet visitors. The son had worn a mask of suspicion just as his father, that is until his eyes landed on Clarke. Playing a married couple was risky considering how much Clarke and I were capable of pushing each other’s buttons, but I knew she was smart and reasonable enough to see the benefits to this pretence. And judging by how this guy was salivating over her I did not regret that decision whatsoever. 

“Good morning, I’m William Murray, Viscount of Stormont, what can I do for you.” This was it, I put my game face on and hoped to god this would work out.

“Good evening my lord, my wife and I are in need of assistance.” I couldn’t help but glance at the son as I said those words. The disappointment on his face was impossible to miss. Just like we had agreed on, I fabricated a tale to explain our appearance at their home carrying nothing but the clothes on our back. 

“So you we’re robbed and left to die in the wilderness.” After spending ten minutes weaving an intricate story, in which Clarke and I had traveled from the states in order to visit the country both our families we’re from, that we got ambushed by thieves almost as soon as we arrived in the region. That the greedy thieves took everything from us down to the clothes on our backs, that we were left to wonder the moors alone with no idea of where we were, he managed to reduce it down to a single sentence. Clearly, he did not believe a single word I was saying. Trying to convince him we were part of the nobility was not working and he was probably thinking of how to get rid of us without looking like an asshole in front of his people. The pity card was not going to work, but before I had time to come up with a new plan Clarke changed gears realizing like I had this was not going our way.

“Look, Viscount of Stormont was it, I don’t mean to be rude but as you can clearly see we’re both practically naked and it’s freezing outside. So, let’s get to the point, we both know you are under no obligations to help us, and by your tone it’s obvious that you do not want to. But if you leave us out there we will die and that will be on you. We are not simple peasant coming to ask for charity. All we are asking is that you allow us to stay somewhere warm until we can get word to our families back home, they will pay you handsomely for your troubles, trust me on that. We know how the order of the world works, old money sticks together, but the truth is in this day and age new money can pretty much buy anything and judging by the crumbling state of your residence you are in need of it. So, what will it be, death on your conscience or help us in exchange for a handsome reward.” For once I was glad not to be Clarke’s enemy and judging by the look of surprise the Viscount had on his face he had not expected this tirade to come out of someone of the female persuasion. I’m pretty sure in this time they were more malleable, not that I minded, fierce Clarke was something to behold. The Viscount cleared his throat clearly embarrassed. 

“Maybe we should take this conversation somewhere warmer.” By warmer he clearly meant away from prying eyes, but at least we would be able to warm ourselves. He dismissed his wife and son without so much as an introduction and brought us to his office. 

“Who sent you, I told them I will get them the money I just need more time.” And here it was, Clarke had been right about the money. 

“I don’t know what you are talking about sir, we did not come here to collect any money. We are simply lost and are in need of your assistance.” 

“Then how do you explain knowing so much about my financial affairs. Nobody even my wife knows how bad it is, and yet your women pointed it out as if it was public knowledge.” I could see Clarke fuming in anger behind me at being ignored. I gently placed my hand on her arm to try and calm her down and bent down to whisper in her ear. 

“Wait for me outside.” 

“You have got to be kidding me.” 

“Please.”

“Fine.” She replied through gritted teeth. 

“Sir, as I’ve said before I have no idea about your money problems. You see my wife’s family is from Scotland. Her grand-father immigrated to the US with nothing, they started a business and were very successful. By the time she was born they had become one of the most influential families in New York. But her whole life nobles such as yourself looked down on her and her family, because they were not true blue bloods. But when they needed money they all came flocking at her father’s door begging for loans.” I had never been so happy drama was part of the curriculum at school. I tried to stay as serious as possible as I was making all this up on the go. 

“Why are you telling me all of this, I do not care where your wife comes from.” His frustration was evident at this point, I needed to wrap this up nicely. 

“I meant no disrespect, I’m just trying to explain why she acted that way. As I mentioned multiple times my wife doesn’t know anything about your financial troubles nor does she have any intention of bringing attention to them. She was taking a shot in the dark based on her previous experience dealing with people like you.” He stayed quiet for a long time, contemplating my words. 

“And what about you…”

“Bellamy Blake.”

“Blake that’s an English name, I thought both you and your wife had Scottish origins.”

“We do, it’s true my name is English but my mother was Scottish. My parents moved to the colonies on account of the judgment they got while living in Scotland, as you well know there is a long history of animosity between the English and the Scottish. My father was part of the English gentry. He saw great opportunity in marrying me into money.”

“And you can assure me that if I offer you assistance, her family will provide a monetary reward.”

“It might take time to get word to them, but they have more than enough to satisfy you and for us to make our way back home.”

“You said you were in Scotland to visit family can you not contact them in order to get you both home as soon as possible.” Shit, how was I going to explain my way out of this one. Suddenly, Clarke barged into the room, looking as pissed as when she walked out. Of course she had been listening at the door. 

“Excuse the interruption gentlemen.” The bitterness in her voice was palpable. “But good sir if you hadn’t noticed yet we were robbed, everything was taken including the letter which contained the name and location of where we were heading. Since we are not familiar with this land, we cannot remember the exact location. If you know of any Griffins or Blake’s in the region we will gladly send word to them, but in the meantime could you please get me something to wear.”

“I will allow you both to stay until you can get word to your family, however you must obey two rules while under my roof. Under no circumstances are you allowed to bring up my financial problems or the deal I have made with the both of you. As far as everyone on my land his concerned I am letting you stay out of the kindness of my heart. Second, you keep your wife on a leash. I don’t know how it is in the colonies, but here our women know their place. If they don’t I will not hesitate to put her there.”

“Of course, we will do as you ask.” Clarke was gripping onto my hand so hard that I was afraid she would break it. But at least she stayed quiet, nodding at the Viscount. 

“My patience has its limits so I suggest whomever you plan on contacting will not dally getting me my money. Someone will show you to your room and some clothes will be sent up. Now if you excuse me I need to explain to my family why in god’s name I have allowed you to stay.” 

 

Clarke was still fuming as we were escorted to our room. I didn’t know what she was thinking, but knowing her she was definitely pissed. A world in which women were subjugated was not a world she would like. As soon as we were alone I was finally able to ask her how she knew that the Viscount was in need of extra funds. 

“How did you know it would work?”

“It was a gamble, but it was clear he wasn’t buying the noble act and I remembered Monty mentioning something about the estate falling into disrepair around this time, seemed like a good assumption to make. The face he made when I called him out on needing founds was priceless. From the outside you can’t possibly guess that they need money, the estate is still breathtakingly beautiful, but I had to take the risk he wasn’t going to let us stay.” 

“Well played princess.” 

“Thanks.” Her anger seemed to dissipate as she revelled in her quick thinking. 

They eventually brought us something to wear and even prepared a bath. They brought in some kind of tub and placed it in the middle of the room, slowly filling it with warm water. I blushed as Clarke started to get undress. 

“Do you mind.” 

“Ah right, I’ll just stand here and look outside.”

“Don’t you dare peek at me Blake.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it princess.” 

Now that we we’re safe at least for a little the reality of where we were was finally hitting me. The cave had to be the key to how we ended up in 1809, Clarke had mentioned some drumming right before she pulled me in, but I had heard nothing. Maybe that had some kind of significance. The only thing I was sure of was that time was of the essence to solve this problem.

“Bellamy you can turn around now I’m done. The water’s still warm if you want a turn.”

“So, I get to enjoy your sloppy seconds.”

“That is the gentlemen thing to do dear husband.” I took my time washing myself, enjoying the warmth of the water. When I finally emerged, Clarke was looking pensive. 

“Clarke what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

“You might not want to admit this, but I know you better than you think.”

“Of course, you do, you’ve been spying on me for years.”

“Clarke I’m being serious, tell me what you’re thinking.”

“Does it matter it’s looking like I’ll never get to express my thoughts every again might as well start now.” Her anger at the way she was being treated was back and I was just as upset as Clarke about this whole thing. Part of me wanted to remind her that we wouldn’t be in this mess if it hadn’t been for her. But, I felt if I did it would break the fragile alliance we had managed to carve out, and as scary as it was to be here having a familiar face on my side made it much easier. So as much as it was difficult for me not to throw it in her face I remained quiet. 

“This won’t be forever Clarke we will find a way home.”

“How can you possibly know that, this might be our lives from now on.” It suddenly hit me, she wasn’t angry, she was scared. 

“Clarke, I have never taken you for the giving up type, I know this is an impossible situation, but come on its you and me, we will find a way home.” The tears she was holding in abruptly started pouring out as she fell down to the floor. Tears were not something I knew how to deal with especially coming from Clarke. In the two years I had known her, she had never shown weakness and I had not made her life easy. Despite all the judgement she received from others, the rumors that circulated about her and my constant reminding her that she did not belong, she had remained strong and had shot back at me just as fiercely. I knew I was being an ass to her for no particular reason, but she had been an easy target. The mysterious rich girl with an unknown past moving to a small town. Seeing her now completely defeated gave my heart a little pinch. So, I got to my knees like I used to do to comfort Octavia when she was little and gathered Clarke into my arms. We stayed like this for what felt like hours, until I finally managed to convince her to get some sleep, we would both be more alert once we regained our energy. 

A knock at the door pulled me from my sleep. We had slept the day away judging by the darkness outside. My grumbling stomach was not too please, when I thought about it I hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning. I opened the door hoping to see a servant with a food tray, instead I was surprised to see the Viscount’s son. 

“Good evening.”

“Hello” His eyes drifted past me to Clarke’s sleeping form on the bed. I subtilty moved into his line of vision bringing his attention back to me. 

“It is customary for guest to eat with their host, you and your wife will come join us downstairs.” Odd, I figured his father would want us out of his way.

“Are you sure your father is ok with this, he did not seem to please with having us stay here.”

“My father’s a grumpy old man, as his heir I’ve reminding him of what his proper.” As much as the idea of staying hidden was appealing we needed food. 

“We will be right out, could you give us a minute. Sorry but what was your name.”

“Where are my manner, allow me to introduce myself, I am Finn Murray son of the Viscount of Stormont and heir to Scone Palace.” 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, my name is Bellamy Blake. Let me wake my wife and we’ll join you shortly.” It was incredibly difficult to be pleasant to this douchebag but his interest in Clarke could prove advantageous to us. He could become an ally in our quest to return home, however the way he clearly lusted after a married woman did not indicate that he was a very good person. We would have to be careful with him, balancing on a tightrope keeping him interested enough to help, but not letting him actually get close to Clarke. 

“I will wait for you here, to show you the way.” 

“Of course, how kind.” I put on my best Bellamy smile and gently close the door on him. He was up to something and he was not even bothering to hide it.


	4. Jealous much?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments, its encouraging to hear that you like the story. Sorry this update is so late I was sick last week and could not focus on writing. Hope you like this chapter.

I quickly found out that Clarke did not like to be woken up as she hurled a pillow in my direction when I gently placed a hand on her shoulder to tell her we had to go eat. 

“Clarke, come on they’re expecting us.”

“Well they should get used to disappointment, they can’t just summon us whenever they please.”

“You’re being ridiculous they are inviting us to dine with them, as normal hosts would do. Come on I’m sure you’re hungry.”

“Fine I’ll come with you. Clearly you can’t survive this world without me.”

“How kind of you princess.” I replied sarcastically, her nap clearly had done her a world of good cause she was back to her old self. I had to admit I had missed our easy banter, with everything happening we had been too worried to be able to relax and joke around. “Before we step out you should know their son Finn, is waiting for us outside.”

“Why is that important?”

“Have you not noticed the way he looks at you.”

“Not really, I’ve been a little busy watching my world implode.”

“Clarke I’m being serious, be careful around him. He could be useful, we could probably convince him to show us around maybe brings us back to the cave, but I don’t think you should be alone with him.”

“How am I supposed to get him to help if I can’t be alone with him. I’m not sure what you want me to do, flirt with him with you next to me? He can’t possibly be that stupid that he would fall for it.”

“I don’t know we’ll have to think of something, but I can’t explain it there’s something about him I don’t trust, he’s up to something.”

“Did you get any sleep? You’re being a little paranoid. I’m sure he’s harmless, probably just intrigued by us.”

“By you, intrigued by you. He hasn’t given me a second glance.”

“You’re starting to sound a little jealous. Are you sure I need to stay away from him for safety reasons or are you telling me to stay away from him because you don’t like it. You do realise we’re not actually married.” She was enjoying this, thinking she had me cornered. I was not about to admit to any feelings of jealousy. 

“Of course, I know we’re not really married. And I have no idea how you got the crazy idea that I’m jealous. I simply need you focused so we can get back home.”

“Whatever, now that you’ve disturbed my sleep can we go eat.” She dropped the jealous things pretty quickly but I could see she wasn’t buying my excuse. 

“Of course, let’s go.” I had to remind her to be on her best behaviour but I was afraid of how she was going to react, clearly not being able to express herself was something truly difficult for her. “Clarke one more thing before we go.”

“No speaking out of turn, I know. I will be your well-behaved wife for the evening.”

“You know I only say this for your own good. I’m sure you don’t want to get us kicked out for snapping at this guy again.”

“I will try my best, but he better stay out of my face cause I make no promises if he starts insulting me again.”

“If he does I will come to your rescue I promise.” Clarke giggled, such a sweet sound making me want to protect her even more. 

“Didn’t take you for the knight in shining armour Bellamy.”

“There is much you don’t know about me princess.” 

“Maybe we should change that.” Clarke was standing right in front of me looking up towards me since I was much taller than her. She was looking at me as if daring me to do something, but I wasn’t sure what. Then she licked her lips and my whole body froze, the only coherent thought in my mind was that I needed to bend down and kiss her. 

“Excuse me, I’m not sure what’s going on in there but we really should be making our way down to the dining room, my father is not a very patient man.” Before I simply disliked Finn, not liking the way he looked at Clarke, but he hadn’t actually done anything to make me hate him. Until this very moment, I wasn’t sure when I opened the door if I would be able to resist punching him in the face. What if I never got the change to kiss Clarke again, what if this was our moment and that now that it had passed we could never get it back. But more frightening than that was the realization that I did want to kiss her and if I was being honest with myself it had nothing to do with our current situation. I had wanted to kiss her since the day she had first gotten angry at me for being an ass. Never had I seen someone so fierce and beautiful before. I had always denied my attraction to her because I felt it would mean that she had defeated me and I did not want to appear weak. The truth was that I was being weak by not acting on those feelings and instead driving her crazy everyday with meanness. 

“We’re coming, come on Bell we’ll finish this conversation later.” I still couldn’t find my voice as she dragged me away. My name had never sounded so nice coming from her lips as right now. She whispered it with such gentleness that it gave me hope that maybe she also felt the connection happening between us. It would be very hard after almost kissing her to convince her that me wanted her to stay away from Finn had nothing to do with jealously. 

“Finally, we better hurry or the food will be cold.”

“Sorry for that we got a little distracted, Finn was it? My husband said that you were kind enough to come fetch us for dinner how very sweet.”

“It’s no problem at all, I know your arrival was a little sudden and took us by surprise, I just wanted to make sure you knew we were good people.”

“Of course you are. It is very kind of your entire family to take us in, we are after all strangers. I can sense that you have a very generous heart.” Clarke let go of my hand and grabbed Finn’s arm as he guided us through this immense house. My hands balled up into fits at her words, but I managed to remain calm. Trust Clarke to find a way to flirt with her husband standing behind her and still appear natural. Finn seemed to have completely forgotten that I was there. When he placed his hand on the small of her back I snapped out of my haze and decided it didn’t matter if she thought I was jealous or not, I was not going to let him touch her. 

“Yes Finn how very kind of you, but if you don’t mind I would like my wife back.” Luckily, we had just arrived at the dining room and Finn couldn’t really argue as his father came to meet us. 

I thought our unexpected arrival earlier was awkward, but this strange diner takes the cake. Not a word was spoken during the entire meal, Clarke and I were looking at each other trying to figure out if our presence was the cause of this cold atmosphere or if this was simply how they ate every day. Diners back home we’re always full of life, especially with Octavia going on about her day. We weren’t a perfect family but at least we were happy, I did not get a vibe of happiness with these people. The wife was completely disinterested in anything happening, the son was only focused on Clarke and the husband did not take his eyes off me as if he could figure out my real intentions in coming here by just looking at me. The meal finally came to an end and I was happy to leave these people and be alone with Clarke. However, the wife took her away for some tea as I was dragged away by Finn and his father for brandy in the study. 

“Son maybe you should join the women I have important things to discuss with our guest.”

“Of course, father.” Finn was having a hard time hiding his smile as he bid us good night. 

“How odd he usually throws a fit when I treat him like a child and exclude him from adult conversations.” How could his father not know why he was so eager to leave, fuck, I needed to find a way out of the study as fast as possible. 

“Was there anything I could help you with sir, it’s been a very long day and I would very much like to get back to my wife.”

“Understandably, I remember how it is to be young and in love. Enjoy it cause before you realise it you’re married to an old hag that wants nothing to do with you except to get money to pay for fancy dresses. Or so I’ve heard from friends.” The Viscount was clearly flustered by his own words, probably not having intended to reveal so much about his marriage in front of me. Not that I hadn’t suspected that his marriage was more for show than anything else. “You can go find your wife as soon as you write the letter to your relatives.” Right the letter….

“Yes the letter, it completely slipped my mind.”

“I figured as much, but I’m sure you both want to go home as soon as possible and well I’m in need of funds rather rapidly. I left some paper on my desk.” The Viscount stood over me the entire time I was composing my letter. The content was not a problem, I only had to stick to the story I had given him earlier, the problem was when it came time to put down an address. I knew it would be weeks if not months for the letter to be returned because the address would inevitably be faked. I was worried that if I did not put one that at least seemed to look real the post office in Scotland would return it much quicker than planned. So, it had to be a legit place. If my host found it odd that I spent more time writing on the envelop than on the actual letter he did not say anything. I handed him the final product and he seemed rather pleased. I had purposefully added a sentence in the letter about how grateful we were to the Viscount for taking us in and that we felt indebted to him to the highest degree so funds were to be sent directly to him to repay his kindness. I knew he would never see a penny, and part of me felt bad for him as he clearly needed it, but at least he would be more agreeable if he thought he was going to be well rewarded. 

“I will send this out first thing in the morning, excellent business. You are free to join your wife now.” Since he was in such high spirits it was the best time to bring up my plans to explore the land and hopefully find a way out of this time. 

“Sir I wanted to ask you if it would be possible to have a look around tomorrow.”

“Around where?” His eyes quickly went from being happy to being filled with suspicion once again. 

“My wife and I were ambushed near this cave in the mountains, and we are hoping that the thieves may have left some of our personal belongings behind once they found our stash of gold.” Yes, I was laying it on thick but I had to, Clarke was right the more he believed we were rich the more help we would get out of him. “Perhaps find some of our clothes to wear, we cannot keep imposing on your generosity.” His suspicion went down as he heard my explanation, but he was not about to let us out of his sight and perhaps lose a payday. 

“Do you have any other clues as to where this cave might be, we have more than one in the area.” More than one, I hadn’t even considered that possibility this was going to be more difficult than anticipated.

“A shepherd found us near the cave, maybe he could guide us back.”

“I can’t really send you both alone, you will most likely get lost again. As for this shepherd do you have a name for me, again we have many of them in the region. Look Bellamy I want to help but you cannot go blindly looking around this region. We’ll talk more tomorrow, I need to think now.” I wasn’t going to get anything out of him tonight that was for sure. A servant lead me to the tea room which opened to an angering scene. The Viscount wife was sound asleep, as Clarke and Finn were quietly talking, heads close together to not be overheard. When Clarke finally looked up she froze, probably seeing how angry I was. 

“Thank you for the company Finn, but it looks like my husband is ready for bed. I will see you in the morning.” I was furious, I told her to stay away.

“Bellamy wait for me.” I was rushing through the different hallways trying to find my way back to the room, as Clarke tried to catch up. I couldn’t talk to her now I was too angry. I had spent the evening trying to find us a way home as she flirted with that horrible piece of shit. Who did he think he was talking to my wife like that unsupervised. Clarke bumped into me as my feet stopped moving. My wife, for fuck sake I had called Clarke my wife in my head as if this was our reality. What was happening with me. 

“Bell, look at me.” I couldn’t even face her, I was acting like a child whose toy was taken away before he even got a chance to play with it. “What just happened?” 

“I’m not sure I can even explain it. Clarke why were you alone with him.”

“I wasn’t the wife was there.” Even she knew it was a lame excuse. “I know it was stupid, but Bellamy it was a perfect opportunity to get him to help. I said I wanted to go back where we were robbed that maybe they had left some of our things behind.” I couldn’t help but laugh that we had both gotten the same idea. My approach hadn’t worked, maybe Finn would be our salvation. “If you’re that worried I won’t speak to him again.” 

“No, it’s ok, you did good. I actually tried to get the Viscount to let us go and look for our things but he was more reluctant. Did Finn do anything inappropriate.”

“No.” she looked away as she answered me.

“Clarke I can see it in your face something happened.”

“Don’t be angry, but it was the only way really, I may have led him to believe our marriage is not doing very well.”

“Fuck Clarke! What were you thinking, you are basically giving him permission to make a move.”

“I know it was stupid, but he was reluctant too about letting us go look for this mystery cave. So I made up a story about how I hid my jewelry in the seams of my dresses and that I was planning on making a run for it here since you were not familiar with the country.” My brain could not even process what she was telling me, this could become a potentially dangerous situation.

“Clarke, god knows what he’s thinking right now. What if he thinks you’re in danger from me and takes you away. I don’t know if I can protect you here.”

“Bell.”

“Clarke I’m scared, I know you think it’s me being jealous, but there’s something about him, it’s just off.” Fuck, fuck, fuck, I could feel my heart beating out of control. It was too much, the time jump, my feelings for Clarke, the idea that harm could befall her. And then it all went blank, all my worries and fears disappeared as I felt Clarke’s lips on mine. Neither of us deepened the kiss it was short and sweet, but it was enough to calm me down. 

“I know it was foolish, but we need to get back out there and if he can bring us there I will do anything in my power to convince him to lead us to that cave. You have been strong and brave throughout this entire thing and haven’t once thrown it in my face that the only reason we are here is because of me, so please Bellamy I need to fix it, I need to get us home.” 

“From now on you are not leaving my side, agreed?” Knowing why she did it, the feelings of guilt that pushed her to be reckless did not make me worry less about what might unfold because of it, but it was too late now do to anything about it so all that was left was to stay by her side and if Finn tried anything I would be there to keep her safe.

“As you wish.”

“Don’t think that quoting Princess Bride will make me less angry.”

“I don’t know you are smiling right now.”

“You’re impossible, come on let’s go to sleep.” 

At first, I felt weird sharing a bed with Clarke, something was happening between us but it was still unclear as to what exactly. However, as I held her in my arms, for warmth purposes of course, I had never felt so much at home despite being so far. 

I woke up during the night to the sound of screaming, when I tried located the source I noticed the flames coming from the courtyard. Fire, the house was on fire!


	5. Tomorrow

“Clarke, wake up.” 

“Not again, can’t you just let me sleep.”

“Clarke the house is on fire, you need to get your cute little ass out of bed right now.” I could tell the exact moment her brain caught up with the information I had just given her, she jumped out of bed, grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door. 

“Well come on Bell, why are you dragging your feet, we got to get out.” I grabbed the sheets as she rushed me out of the room and wrapped it around her. She gave me an inquisitive look but didn’t argue. There was no sense in having her stand in the courtyard in nothing but a night gown, the people living here had already seen way too much of her. When we finally emerged from the burning building everyone was already working hard to try and put out the flames, the fire was concentrated near the stables suggesting that it originated from there. Which was very odd. I left Clarke with the rest of the women and started helping the men carry buckets of water to put out the flames. They were reluctant at first to let me help, but the urgency of the situation made their concerns about me disappear momentarily. 

As the flames began to die down I had a chance to glance around me to take in the damage. The fire didn’t reach the main house, but the stables were burned to a crisp, fortunately the horses had been taken to safety before the fire got out of hand. It could have been much worst. In the commotion I hadn’t noticed that the Viscount was missing, considering it was his house that was at risk of burning down it was incredibly odd. Finn was as far away from danger as he possibly could have stood without making him look like a coward. He was comforting his mother, but his eyes were fixated on Clarke, who was keeping her distances. The men were exhausted, but they all still took the time to thank me for helping, as they glanced at Finn with disgust. I couldn’t really blame them, they had risked their lives to stop the blaze, saving a propriety which wasn’t even theirs and Finn and his father were nowhere to be seen during the ordeal. 

“Sebastian has never fallen asleep while attending to the stables, how could something like this have possibly happened.” The men were as suspicious as me by the oddity surrounding the fire. 

“You didn’t hear, he wasn’t asleep. Matthew was the one who first noticed the smoke and he rushed in to see what was happening, he found Sebastian on the ground unconscious. This was no accident.” They both turned towards me as those words were exchanged. “We will find out more when he wakes up maybe he saw his assailant.” I sure hoped so; Clarke and I didn’t need to have people suspect us of committing arson.

“Don’t worry young man.” One of the older men, a blacksmith judging by his appearance, patted me on the back as the others left to go check on their families. “It’s natural of them to be suspicious of whom they don’t know, but we all saw you coming out of the house with the rest of the staff, I will vouch for you.”

“That is very kind of you considering you don’t know me.”

“I might not know you, but I can recognise a good man when I see one, and the way you carry yourself and care for your wife says a lot about your characters unlike some people.” His eyes drifted back to Finn and his mother, the Viscounts family we’re not a popular bunch. Maybe a disgruntled farmer had set the fire. 

“My name is Ben by the way if you need anything don’t hesitate.” And just like that he was off into the night. He was a strange fellow, but he seemed sincere. 

Just as everybody was returning to their beds the Viscount finally showed up. But he did not come from the house, instead he was crossing the courtyard on his horse. His mysterious disappearance made more sense if he had not been at home, but the question was what was he doing ridding in the middle of the night. He was clasping a piece of paper in his hand as he started questioning his family about what had happened. After they re-counted the events of the night, Finn asked the question I was dying to know the answer to.

“Father where the hell where you? After what happened to our guests why would you go ridding alone at night.”

“I had urgent business to take care of, I will have you know that taking care of an estate as big as ours demands our constant care and attention. Not that you would understand all you ever do is lounge around. How could you possibly understand all the responsibilities I have?” Finn was fuming with anger, but he was smart enough to recognize that his father was not in the mood, so he guided his mother back inside. As I got to Clarke’s side she whispered in my ear.

“That man is hiding something, deflecting a question with anger and insults he is being too obvious.”

“My thoughts exactly, we’ll have plenty of time to discuss this in the morning, let’s get you back to bed.” 

I tried to go back to sleep, but so much was going on I couldn’t shut my brain off. When the sun finally rose, I could find no excuse to stay in bed so I left to go explore the house. It would be a good idea to familiarize myself with the building in case something was to happen again. There was too much weird stuff happening here. 

Scone Palace had to have been built by a drunk man, it was practically a labyrinth. I got lost more times than I could count. I would have continued to look around, but Clarke must have been up by now so it was probably best I returned to the room so she wouldn’t worry. Plus, god knows how long it would take me to find my way back to her. As I passed the Viscount’s study I saw that the door had been left open, it was the perfect opportunity to try and find out more. As I walking I was startled to find the man himself asleep in his chair, he clearly never went to bed last night. Looking for answers was no longer an option so I had to settle for the next best thing and question him directly. I cleared my voice loudly to wake him up, he seemed surprised to find me here. 

“What is going on, the fire last night was no accident? What is happening?” It was better to get straight to the point and hope for a direct answer. 

“I assure you mister Blake that it was nothing more than a mishap.”

“I saw your face, something is wrong, someone did this to you and your home as a warning. Now I know it’s none of my business and all you want from me and my wife is money. But they set your home on fire, you need to talk to someone about what’s happening because you clearly have no idea how to deal with it, I suggest you make a decision before your house is turned to ash.” He seemed taken aback by my comment. I wasn’t sure if anything I had just said was making any sense, but it was the only idea I could come up with. The mysterious need for money, the note he was holding last night, the fire…someone had to be doing this to him.

“Mister Blake I appreciate your concern, as misplaced as it is, but nothing is going on. You have a very active imagination and I suggest you return to your wife before it gets the best of you.” More dodging. I half hoped that he would stop me before I walked out the door, but the Viscount was being incredibly stubborn. How stupid did he think his family was, they would find out sooner or later that something weird was happening. 

I returned to our bedroom to find Clarke pacing the room back and forth. 

“Bell where have you been? Never mind that, I’ve been thinking, Monty went on and on about this place for weeks, never once did he mention a fire. What if us being here is changing the course of history.” Could this get any worse, if I had to start worrying about the consequences of our every action I think I would go mad. 

“Or maybe nobody recorded this incident and Monty just never read about it. You do realize he’s not all-powerful right, he cannot possible know everything?”

“I suppose you could be right, but still don’t you agree it is possible that our arrival has set certain events in motion that hadn’t occurred in the past.”

“I can’t completely reject your theory, but there is no way to prove its validity. I don’t think it’s safe to stay here, something is going on and if we stay we might end up caught in the crossfire.”

“So, what do you propose?”

“As much as I hate to admit it Finn might be our only hope.” 

“Are you sure?”

“No, but what other choice to we have. Just stay near me at all time.”

“Aye Aye Captain.” Clarke gave me a salute as she led the way to Finn’s room. When we knocked he took forever to come and open the door. He clearly had still been asleep; his father was not entirely wrong to call him lazy. 

“Clarke, Bellamy, excuse my appearance I wasn’t expecting any visitors this early.” I had no way of knowing the time, but judging by the height and brightness of the sun I could see from the window in his bedchamber, it was probably closer to lunch time than he was aware. “I will be out in just one moment.” Perhaps he had also spent most of the night awake, what was this family up to. When he finally came out I placed myself in front of Clarke as a shield.

“My wife mentioned that she spoke to you last night about possibly helping us search for our stolen items. We were hoping to maybe head out today and look for them if you could serve as our guide we would really appreciate it.” 

“Ah yes I did say that and I have every intention of coming to your aid, however you see today would simply be impossible I have important business I need to attend to.” He had important business and yet just seconds ago he was still asleep. They were all liars.

“Finn that’s so unfortunate, I was really hoping to find some of my things, like I told you last night I don’t think the thieves would have been interested in my dresses I’m sure they’ve abandoned my trunk somewhere along the way. Please Finn you’re my only hope.” It took every ounce of self-control I possessed to not say anything, I knew what Clarke was doing but it did not make it any easier to see her bat her eyelashes for this douchebag.

“My dearest Clarke it pains me to have to deny your request but today is simply impossible, I need to head out now, but tomorrow we will set out on an adventure to find your stolen stuff. I promise, now if you excuse me I really must be off.” We both stood there in front of his room, which he took the time to lock before leaving, in complete shock.

“Well I did not see that coming, I thought for sure I had him wrapped around my finger.”

“That’s the thing, so did I, there’s something weird in the way he was acting. Well weirder than usual I should say. He’s up to something.”

“Maybe we should ask the lady of the house for help, she might be the most well-adjusted person in this whole place.” My laughter startled a maid that was passing by at that exact moment, causing her to drop the tray she was carrying. I apologised as we walked past her.

“Bellamy really did you have to scare the poor girl.” I knew she was making fun of me and trying to embarrass me but I couldn’t find it in me to care. It felt good for a second to be enveloped by laughter instead of dread and worry. 

“But in all seriousness Bell I wasn’t joking around.”

“You really think she could be of any help, she seems more interested in ballgowns and jewelry than what is going on under her own roof.”

“Or she’s incredibly cunning and has fooled everyone into thinking she’s stupid. She might know more than she lets on.” 

“I guess it’s worth a try. Will you be ok on your own? I was thinking of finding this guy Ben with whom I spoke last night.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m pretty sure I can handle her, if she proves to be as crazy as the rest of them.”

“That’s my girl.” I froze as soon as the words left my mouth. My girl…what was I thinking, we share one kiss and all of a sudden, I own her. 

“Whoa, I know a few girls back home that would kill to be your girl. It’s quite an improvement from your usual name calling.”

“Clarke…what I meant was…like since we’re in this together…like a partner in crime…type of thing.”

“Well Blake I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this flustered and last year you literally set your shirt on fire during science class.” This was worse than my nightmare about being in front of the whole school naked. How the mighty have fallen, I used to be so in control of my feelings around Clarke, knowing we would never be anything it was easy to ignore potential feelings. But since we had been sent back in time it’s like everything was unravelling. I was worse than a love sick 12-year-old blurting out everything I was thinking. 

“We’ll just pretend this never happened, but for the record Blake, and I will never admit to it saying this when we get back home, I might have been one of those girls. Might still be.” Before my brain had time to process what she had just said she had been off to find Lady Anne. Did Clarke have feelings for me, had she had them before we got here? NOW WAS NOT THE TIME, I keep telling myself as I walked outside searching for Ben, but the more I tried to push down that conversation to focus on more pressing issues, the more her words keep echoing in my head might still be…

“Ah young man, what brings you here, already in need of assistance.”

“Hello Ben, am I interrupting?”

“It’s noting that can’t wait. How can I be of help?” 

“I was wondering if you or anyone had noticed some weird stuff happening?”

“What do you mean?” I couldn’t just ask him, is your lord and protector up to no good. It’s not like I knew exactly what I was looking for. 

“To be honest I’m not sure, since we’ve arrived I’ve noticed the behavior of the Viscount to be strange, but since I don’t really know him it could just be how he is all the time. I fear something is wrong with this family and wanted your opinion.”

“You feel unsafe here?” 

“Yes. We have nowhere to go, but if there is danger here I would prefer take my chances in the wilderness, rather than stay in this house filled with lies and deceit.” I was laying it on thick. I had no real evidence anything was happening, but I needed Ben to open up to me.

“It’s not like the Lord mingles with the common folk, we don’t know much about the goings on that happen inside.”

“I see, sorry to bother you about this I’m sure you have better things to do with your time. I’m probably just being paranoid after everything that’s happened to my wife and I.”

“I wasn’t done young man. They don’t mingle with us, however, for the past few months there has been odd behavior happening. The fire from last night for instance, young Sebastien did not see his assailant nonetheless he did confirm that he was hit over the head. The master has been seen leaving late at night, without any one to protect him and the young lord as also starting acting more arrogantly towards everyone. I’m not sure if this is what you meant by strange behavior.”

“Something like that. And you have no idea what has been causing this.”

“Like I said it’s not my place to question my Lord, but many are becoming concerned for their future, they no longer trust the Viscount to keep them safe.”

“That’s how we feel being stuck inside that house. We want to return home as soon as possible.”

“I hope you find your way back, before another strange occurrence happens.” As I walked back towards the house I mulled over Ben’s words. It was clear that something was going on, I was still far from knowing exactly what but the rush to return home was more real than ever, we could not stay here. Hopefully Finn would keep his word and help us find the cave so we could attempt to return back to our time. I returned to our room and waited for Clarke. She returned much later, exhausted from having spent the day talking with Lady Anne. 

“I was wrong, she is just as superficial and stupid as she appears. I cannot believe someone can have the desire to spend hours talking about dresses and ribbons. I think my brain is about to explode from all the useless information it has gathered. And don’t you dare laugh.”

As I tried to keep a straight face I recounted my encounter with Ben, she wasn’t surprised that the people living on the Viscount property all thought there was something off with this family. They are weird as fuck were her exact words. 

A maid came to fetch us for diner, I wondered where Finn could have gone. He would not miss an opportunity to spend time with Clarke. When Clarke asked about him, his father grunted something about him disappearing this afternoon. Meaning whatever business Finn had was a secret from his father. This could prove to be very useful information. Clarke tried her best to avoid eye contact with Lady Anne, but unfortunately failed and she started another conversation concerning the new fashion coming from Paris to Clarke’s great displeasure. 

At the first opportunity we excused ourselves from the table, and returned to our room. Both tired from our day and frustrated by the lack of progress we silently got into bed laying quietly next to each other. Clarke was impossible to read, but if she felt anything like me it was nothing good. The more time we spent here, the further away it felt we were getting from ever being able to return home. I found her hand under the covers and squeezed.

“Tomorrow.” 

“Tomorrow.” She repeated after me, understanding my meaning. I could offer no other promise, then the promise that we would try again tomorrow. Exhausted, despite my worries I feel into a deep sleep. 

***  
Clarke don’t let go of my hand. Clarke, where are you? It’s dark I can’t see you. Clarke, please don’t leave me.

Bell, it’s too late, you need to go on without me. 

Clarke, Clarke answer me.   
***

Panic seized me and I woke up in a panic, I couldn’t remember ever being woken up by a nightmare. But my heart was beating at an alarming rate, it had felt so real. I turned to see Clarke still sleeping beside me, she was here, she was safe. I gathered her in my arms, I needed to feel her. 

“I won’t let go of you I promise.” She stirred, but didn’t wake up. Tomorrow I reminded myself, we would find a way tomorrow. 

A loud knock at the door woke me up the next day, Clarke was still sound asleep next to me. A chuckle escaped my lips as I removed my arms from her waist. Trust her to sleep with all the bagging happening outside. 

“Rise and shine friends, we are setting off on our grand adventure.” Finn, he was surprisingly keeping his word after dodging us yesterday. His words must have reached Clarke in her haze of sleepiness because just like that she was up and ready to go in a matter of minutes.

She smiled brightly at me, whispering “Today.”

“Today.” We would, we had to find our way home. 

Once our horses had been saddled and Clarke had gotten over her fear of getting on one we were off. 

“Come on princess, I thought you were fearless.”

“Being afraid of ridding a beast that weighs more than me and could potential go wild and crush me is not an irrational fear.”

“Come on I’ll race you.”

“Bellamy Blake don’t you dare.” With the wind in my hair, finally away from that dreadful place I felt more alive than I had in days. Finn was ridding next to us, but he was very quiet. Not like his usual chatty self. 

“I’m just kidding I would never leave you behind.”

“Aren’t you sweet.” She glared back at me, clearly not amused that she was having such a hard time with the horse when it looked like I had ridden all my life. I noticed that despite not talking Finn was paying close attention to our exchange, confusion written all over his face. It took a while to finally reach the cave, and I couldn’t be positive it was the one we were looking for until we looked inside, but it seemed right. Maybe the Viscount had lied about the amount of caves in the region to discourage our search. 

We dismounted from our horse and Clarke beamed at me, she recognised the area too, this had to be the place. Suddenly I heard sounds coming from all around us, and then six men came upon us. They did not look friendly at all. 

“Clarke get behind me. Finn please tell me you know these people.”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Well what do we have here, are you noblemen lost?” The first men, who appeared to be in charge addressed us in a mocking tone.

“Not at all we’re exactly where we want to be, we were about to explore this beautiful cave. What can we do for you gentlemen?” 

“Do you hear that folks, he called us gentlemen. Trust me we are far from being gentle.” His tone was cruel, they meant business. “You see we also we’re out here exploring, but instead of sceneries we want gold, actually anything on you of value hand it over.” It’s like our lies were catching up to us. Clarke and I had nothing of value on us, Finn handed over his pocket watch. I was hoping that would be it, but as the others started to leave the leader turned back to us.

“Actually, since you were empty handed we’re going to have to take something else instead.” I tightened my grip on Clarke, I had a bad feeling about where this was going.

“The girl, give me the girl.” NO!

“No, I will never let her go.” I looked around me, there had to be a way out. If only we had stayed on the horses. “Finn do something don’t you have some power in these lands.” He shook his head no. 

“Fine if you won’t let her go I’ll take her off your dead body.” He took out a gun and my heart stopped. My nightmare was coming to life.

“No don’t shoot I’ll come with you.”

“Clarke don’t you dare let go of me.”

“Bell I can’t let them shoot you.”

“It’s an old pistol, they probably only have one bullet, Clarke please.” She started to walk away from me, but I held on to her for dear life. 

“Bell if it wasn’t for me we wouldn’t even be in this mess, you need to let me go and return home.”

“Never.” She took a step further, slowly moving away from me. “Clarke, don’t.”

“Bell you have to think of Octavia, what will happen to her if you die here trying to protect me, she needs you.”

“You need me right now, you can’t ask me to stand by and do nothing.”

“But that’s exactly what I’m asking, because if you don’t they will shoot you and still take me away. Be smart Bell, live to fight other day.” Everything she was saying made sense, but I couldn’t help but want to be irrational and hope for the best. How was I supposed to let her go and go home? 

“Let’s go I don’t have all day.” Clarke starting approaching the man, and with every step she took a little part of me died a little. But she was right, if I tried to stop them now they would just shoot me and then Clarke would be lost forever. But if I lived I would search and fight until she was back safe in my arms. The man pulled Clarke on the horse settling her behind him, and rode off. I had to memorize as much as I could of this encounter so I could find her again. How the men were dressed, what they looked like, and any traits the horses had that might lead us to identify their owners.

“Come on Finn we need to get back to your dad, we don’t have much time to act before Clarke is lost forever.” I will come for you Clarke, always.


	6. Memory

Every step I took away from Bellamy broke my heart, but this was the best option. I might not be getting out of this mess, might never return home but at least Bell had a chance. He deserved to go back to his life, after all this was all my fault. If anything happened to him I would never be able to live with the guilt, the loss. So, as I slowly walked away I felt content with my choice, but Bell wasn’t making it easy. I was going to have to convince him to let me go. 

“Bell if it wasn’t for me we wouldn’t even be in this mess, you need to let me go and return home.”

“Never.” I almost faltered at the determination in his voice. “Clarke, don’t.”

“Bell you have to think of Octavia, what will happen to her if you die here trying to protect me, she needs you.”

“You need me right now, you can’t ask me to stand by and do nothing.”

“But that’s exactly what I’m asking, because if you don’t they will shoot you and still take me away. Be smart Bell, live to fight other day.” Bellamy could be hot-headed at times, but he was smart enough to see that we could not fight our way out of this. 

“Let’s go I don’t have all day.” I took one last glance at Bellamy before reaching the man that was going to take me away from him forever. He pulled me onto his horse and rode away. Now that I was finally out of sight I could feel my walls breaking down and the tears were flowing freely as I was being taken away to an uncertain future. 

“Stop crying, if you do as we say no harm will come to you. Just sit back and behave.” The man suddenly didn’t seem so brutal, as I took a closer look at them they didn’t seem like your typical bandits rooming the wilderness for people to rob. Both we’re well dressed, they we’re clean-shaved, their horses looked perfectly healthy. Something was strange. 

“Where are you taking me? Who are you?” He ignored my questions, probably afraid to reveal anything. If they truly were bandits it wouldn’t have mattered. This started to feel more and more like something else. Did they find out I was from the future? What other reason could they have for taking me. 

We continued ridding for a few more hours, until they finally stopped in front of a little cottage. They remained quiet as they dragged me into the house.

“You stay in this room, if you attempt to run you will die out there. Nobody will come to save you.” How odd, they took me prisoner but they weren’t even bothering with tying me up or locking me up somewhere. The room was well furnished, it had a beautiful bed that seemed very inviting at the moment. Much too luxurious for a couple of thieves. Unless this house didn’t belong to them. 

Left alone in the dark my thoughts turned towards Bellamy. I hope he wasn’t going to do something stupid to try and find me. How things had changed between us in the short few days we had been displaced from our time. Never in a million years would I have thought I would put Bellamy’s safety above my own. I had considered it once, what it would be like to be with Bellamy. 

I had hated Bellamy when I first arrived Arcadia. He was rude and it was clear that he was out to annoy me and drive me mad. But I had also seen another side to him. I remember it as clearly as it was yesterday seeing Bell with his little sister Octavia. I didn’t know who she was at the time, her being much younger than Bellamy. She was trying to reach up for something so I gladly came to assist her. 

***

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, are you here alone? Where are your parents?”

“I’m here with my brother, he takes care of me.”

“You’re lucky, I’m an only child. I’ve always wanted a sibling.” 

“Yes he’s the best. I don’t know what I would do without him.” 

“Octavia you can’t just run off like that.” Both Bellamy and I froze, I had never seen him outside of school. To me he was just the asshole that made my everyday life hell.

“Don’t worry Bell I was just around the corner and look I made a new friend.”

“You know better than to talk to strangers.”

“She’s not a stranger, she helped me. She’s nice.” Bellamy finally turned his attention to me.

“Clarke.”

“Bellamy.” I guess that was all the thanks I was going to get from him. I started to walk away, I had enough with dealing with him at school. There was no need to ruin my Saturday night too.

“You know her? You see I told you she wasn’t a stranger, now you can come to get ice cream with us Clarke.” 

“I’m not sure that’s a great idea.” Both Bellamy and I answered at the same time. However, Octavia was not going to take no for an answer. She gave this look to Bellamy, which I’m sure she has used many times in the past. I could see the moment he resigned himself to his faith, I had to admit this was pretty entertaining. 

“Clarke would you like to come get ice cream with us.” His tone was polite, but the way his eyes were sending daggers at me, it was pretty clear he was hoping I would decline his offer. Spending time with him was not all that appealing, but annoying him for a change was very tempting, plus Octavia was incredibly sweet.

“We’ll nothing would make me happier.” Octavia’s smile grew impossibly big, she grabbed my hand and dragged me to the door. 

“Please watch her as I pay for these, she has a tendency to slip away.” Gone was Bellamy’s angry tone. For once he was speaking to me with decency. As we waited for him outside Octavia spoke none stop, she was quite the chatter-box, such a contrast from her brother. 

“Ok O., where do you want to get ice cream this time.”

“The place by the water, I want to show Clarke the boats.” 

“The one by the marina it is, Clarke you want to ride with us, I can drive you back here once were done.”

“Say yes Clarke you can ride in the back with me.” 

“Sure.” If it wasn’t for Octavia the drive to the ice cream place would have been incredibly awkward, but she kept us entertained with talk of school and the friends she had made since starting grade 1. 

“So Clarke, are you friends with my brother at school?”

“Something like that.” I could see Bellamy was relieved that I hadn’t mentioned how much of a jackass he actually was. But it was clear Octavia idolized him, I couldn’t bring myself to take that away. 

When we got to the ice cream place, Octavia decided that she would be in charge of selecting for us. Bellamy ended up with a cheese cake flavored ice cream while I had an apple pie one. Bellamy loosened up around me, the more Octavia extracted information out of me. By the end of the night I was truly happy about how I spent my evening. I hadn’t laugh that much since moving to Arcadia. Octavia had a way of making people be the best they could be. 

***  
I hadn’t thought of that memory with Bellamy in a long time. Truth was I hadn’t lied to Bellamy when I mentioned once having feelings for him. After that night with him and Octavia for one short minute I had wished I was his and he was mine. But that quickly faded into bitterness towards him, the brief flashes of kindness I had seen in him that one time at the supermarket with Octavia never remerged at school and we remained enemies. When we landed here and those feelings remerged, it terrified me to let them back in because for all I knew the same thing would happen all over again. Once we returned to reality he would burry everything that had happen between us and would return to the same old Bellamy who loved to mock and dismiss me at every turn. How silly my fears seemed now, I would never find out if we truly had a change together or if it was just wishful thinking on my part. 

“He’s coming go get the girl.” Movement was happening outside the door. Someone was coming. My faith was about to be decided. 

“Come on girl, someone wants to see you.” They brought me outside as a man was ridding up to the house. At first, I thought I was seeing things, but as soon as he got down from his horse it was impossible to deny. Finn was standing right in front of me and he was being welcomed by the man that had abducted me. What in the world was going on?


	7. You're mine now

We rushed back to Scone Palace, I knew the longer it took to get a search party the more likely Clarke would be lost forever. As much as I just wanted to chase after those assholes myself, Clarke was right I needed to be smart about this if I wanted both of us to make it home together. 

“Finn get us some new horses I need to find your father, meet us in his study when we’re ready to head out.” 

“You do realise I don’t take orders from you. You’re a nobody and I have noble blood.” Finn was not choosing a good time to aggravate me. My nerves we’re already on hedge and I was looking to punch anything that moved. But I needed him, I needed his father to help I couldn’t let me anger get the better of me as it usually did. 

“They took Clarke now’s not the time. You can boss me around all you want after we find her and act superior but for now just do as I say.” I was trying to stay calm and firm, but I could hear the tremble in my voice.

“Whatever.” Finn walked away towards the stables without another word. My rage was still there but at least he did as I said. I was surprised by his behavior, he was too nonchalant about the whole thing. I guess it was common during this period for people to get robbed and taken, but still I knew he cared about Clarke and it seemed like he couldn’t give a fuck that she was in danger. 

As soon as he disappeared from view I rushed inside looking for his father. Those men could not have been on their land by coincidence. It had to be connected to the money problems the Viscount was facing. When I arrived in front of his study the door was lock.

“Viscount open the door I need to speak with you now.” 

“Mister Blake I don’t have time to deal with you at the moment, return later.” 

“Later won’t work for me, open the door.” Silence, ok I guess we would have to do this the hard way. Thank god the door was not as solid as it looked it only took a few good kicks for the lock to break and allow me to get in.

“What in god’s name is wrong with you young man, you have no right. You are a guest in this house this is no way to act.”

“I don’t have time for pleasantries they’ve taken Clarke.”

“What are you talking about who’s taken Clarke?” 

“Enough with the act, who do you owe money too? Who set fire to your home?”

“What makes you think I’m in anyway connected to what happened to your wife. Maybe the two of you are just unlucky and attract thieves everywhere you go.”

“They weren’t thieves, they were dressed too nicely for that and if all they wanted was money why bother taken her. Unless you gave her to them, did you use her to paid off your debts telling them she was a rich heiress. Where the fuck is my wife?” I slammed my fists on his desk, my anger was threatening to tear me apart if I didn’t get it under control. It hadn’t occurred to me before, but now that I thought about how everything went down, how they seemed to just appear out of nowhere as if they were looking for us. How they did not look like criminals but rather looked like a bunch of young noble man lost in the woods. Nobility or not if he touched a hair on her head I will kill him with my bear hands. 

“Trade her to clear my debts do you think these men operate like that, they would never accept a trade. If they’re the ones that took your wife I don’t imagine there’s much hope of finding her alive.” No that could not be true, I would not accept this. 

“You know something, tell me or I will beat it out of you. I’ll ask again who has gotten their claws into you?”

“You can threaten me all you want but I don’t owe you an answer.”

“Maybe not, but if what you’re saying is true and the people you’re indebted to are not behind this and we don’t find Clarke your ticket to clear your debt just slipped out of your hands.” The Viscount’s face paled at my words, making me believe he was being sincere when he said he did not think the men he knew were behind this. 

“What did they look like.” His tone turned serious, now that he realised without Clarke he got no money he was going to help get her back safely. Finally, we were getting somewhere. 

“They looked young, they were well dressed. Most of the men we’re too far away for me to notice anything particular about them, but the leader had this air of authority about him, clean shaved didn’t look like a robber at all. Ridding a beautiful black horse with a white mark on its left eye.” The Viscount seemed shaken by that comment but he remained quiet.

“The people I borrowed from to keep this place in one piece are very unsavory characters. They are part of a criminal organization that operates all over Scotland, they make their money on the misery of others. They do not negotiate and they do not make trades in order to repaid debt. They are not the men you are describing.” Hope was slowly leaving me, if he didn’t know the men we would never find Clarke. 

“Bellamy this is good news, if they were behind this I doubt we would ever see Clarke alive.”

“But how can we even begin to look for her, by now they could be miles away.”

“Where’s my son Bellamy wasn’t he with you when you came across these men, he might be able to give us more information about them.”

“He was, I sent him to get fresh horses to go after Clarke. I told him to meet me here when he was done, he should be here by now.” The Viscount was acting on edge all of a sudden. I did not like what I was seeing, he was hiding something.

“What are you not telling me?”

“I’m not sure if it’s anything.”

“Well then no harm in sharing your concerns.”

“The fire, was not set by the men I’ve stupidly borrowed from.”

“How could you be sure, nobody saw anything.”

“No, but I was out that night meeting with my creditors. We were meeting up to discuss my next payment. Why would they come and threaten my household when I had just assured them the next payment would be received within the week. They were not behind that.”

“So, what does that even mean.” 

“Someone is messing with me, with my home. I just can’t understand why, what possible reason could this person have to make attacks on me or go after your wife.”

“You sound like you have a suspect in mind.”

“The horse you described, I’ve seen it before.”

“Well what are we waiting for, let’s go.”

“Wait Bellamy, it belongs to the son of an Earl, one of Finn’s friends. We can’t go accusing him without evidence.”

“Wait? One of Finn’s friends that makes no sense, he would have recognized him.” Oh my god, Finn knew the men that took Clarke. It all made sense now, how he just stood there doing nothing while she was being taken away, how a coward like him was able to just stand there without shaking in his boots. How he didn’t feel rushed to go after Clarke because he knew where she was. I sprinted out of the room as fast as I could making my way to the stables. There was no trace of Finn, when I asked the stable boy about him he seemed hesitant to answer me, that is until the Viscount appeared demanding answers. 

“Where is my son?”

“I don’t know sir, he was here earlier and he took a new horse. He told me not to tell anyone he had left the property.” 

“That son of a bitch, he took her didn’t he. Your traitor of a son, he took her because he couldn’t have her.”

“Most likely, Finn was never one to accept anything being denied to him.” 

“Well he can’t have her. Where the hell could he have gone?” I knew it, I knew he was nothing but a piece of shit. I should have kept a better eye on Clarke. I should have protected her. 

“I’m not sure, he couldn’t have taken her back to his friends’ property, if his father found out he was involved in a crime the Earl would likely disinherit his son for causing shame to the family. He is after all only a second son.”

“So, can’t we go to him for help.”

“He won’t turn on his son without any actual proof. We’ll need to find them on our own.” 

“You would betray your son.”

“My son is a useless excuse for an heir, and now he’s putting us all at risk. I need the money that will come from Clarke’s family and I need Clarke for that. For the time being you and I will have to be allies.” Finding Clarke was a priority, but I couldn’t help but feel bad for this man, he would never see a penny and from what he was saying about the people he owes money to it would not end well for this family. Then again, they made their choses and would have to deal with the consequences. Figuring out that Finn was behind Clarke’s abduction didn’t return her to me, however he took her because he wanted her for myself and I knew Clarke could hold her own against that bastard. And he would not harm her of that I was sure. The flame of hope was once more rising in me, I would find her. 

***************

“I hope she didn’t give you too much trouble, I’m sure she was scared out of her mind.”

“She was, but we handled her.”

“I trust no harm came to her during this ordeal.”

“Of course not Finn, who do you take us for, we are gentlemen.” 

“Where’s Roan?”

“He had to return home to make an act of presence for his brother’s engagement he’ll be back later.” 

My head was spinning, Finn was behind this. The realization that I was in no imminent danger came as a huge relief. But that did not mean I was going to be able to easily talk my way out of this. I would have to tread lightly. He finally noticed me standing there and slowly approached.

“Clarke, I’m sure you must be scared out of your mind, but you’re safe I promise.” 

“Finn what’s going on?” As much as I would rather punch him in the face and tell him what I really thought of his little plan, I needed to remain calm and act as a frightened damsel in distress. 

“I had to get you away from that husband of yours and I figured this was the best way.” I realised my lies had gotten me in this mess, but how stupid was Finn in thinking that the only way to save me from my husband was to kidnap me, what a delusional idiot.

“So, these men are friends?”

“Yes, don’t worry they won’t harm you. They had to put on a little show for Bellamy’s benefit, but they have clear instructions that no harm should come to you. Now Bellamy will think the worst has happened to you and return home.” 

“You mean he’ll think I’m dead.” 

“I didn’t want to put it so bluntly, but yes that is the plan.”

“And then what?” I feared I knew where this conversation was going, if Bellamy was right about Finn, but I needed to hear it from him. On the off chance he had saved me from my supposedly bad marriage just out of the kindness of his heart. 

“Well when enough time has passed we’ll tell everyone that Bellamy died at sea and we’ll be free to marry.” And there it was, Bellamy had seen it from the start Finn wanted me for himself.

“And then what you think we’re going to live happily together.” It was proving incredibly difficult to remain calm the more Finn talked. But thankfully my sarcasm went right over his head.

“Exactly, I knew you would understand the plan. From the moment I saw you I knew you were meant for me and when you approached me saying you we’re trying to get away from your husband I knew I had to do everything in my power for us to be together.” I could hear Bellamy’s voice in my mind telling me how stupid I had been towards Finn, I should have listened to him sooner and stayed the hell away from this creep. It was too late now to dwell on the past, I needed to find a safe way to get back to Bellamy, who knows how Finn would react if he discovered my treachery. 

“How long do you plan on keeping me here, knowing my husband he is not going to give up easily.”

“Yes, I figured as much. The way he looks at you I didn’t think he would be one to let go easily, but no need to worry love I have plans if he gets in our way.” That did not sound good. 

“Now you must be exhausted with everything that happened today why don’t you go and rest a little. I need to catch up my friends on what’s going to happen now.” So basically, he wanted me out of the way as he discussed my future and what he had in store for Bellamy. As he guided me back to my room I left the door open in the hopes that I would be able to overhear something.

“Why don’t I close this so you can sleep better.” I wondered for a moment if he knew what I was up too, but he was too enamoured with me to suspect anything for now. 

“Please don’t, being in this unfamiliar place I would prefer to keep it open knowing you’re near.” He beamed at me, as predicted too stupid to realize I was playing him. 

It seemed like hours passed with them discussing nothing of interests. Finn did congratulate them on their splendid job, how they had all made marvelous bandits. From their discussion it was obvious that they didn’t really know what was going on. They thought the whole thing was an hilarious joke he was playing on Bellamy. The sound of someone entering the house got my attention, I recognized his voice immediately as the one who had led the abduction. 

“Clear the room, I need to speak with Roan alone.”

“Fine by us Finn it’s about time we head home anyway. Let us know how freaked out your guest was when we speak next. I can only imagine the look on his face when you tell him it was all a joke.”

“Of course, boys, thank you again for your assistance.” As soon as they all left I felt someone approach the room I quickly closed my eyes and pretended I was asleep. 

“Clarke, are you awake? My love?” When he got no response from me he returned to the other room after closing the door, but the walls were so thin I was still able to keep up with most of their exchange. 

“Roan what the hell happened, you were meant to come alone and only meet up with the guys at the cottage. And let’s not forget that you were supposed to get rid of him. Why was he left standing?”

“Calm down Finn your plan can still work. And what exactly did you expect me to do shoot him in from of everyone.”

“That’s why you were supposed to come alone, why did you involve everyone else.”

“Because this made us more credible, when he tells your father or anyone else for that matter what happened we’ll sound like a band of thieves. No one will ever think to suspect us. And I never really liked your plan, I would prefer not to get arrested for murder.” It was as I feared by taking care of it Finn meant to get rid of Bellamy permanently. Thank god his friend had other ideas. 

“But you should have told me, I would have made other arrangements, taken her further.”

“Don’t worry Finn, the plan will still work. You’ll get your girl and then we can move on to taking care of my brother.”

“What you won’t murder according to my plan but I still have to dispose of your brother.”

“No need to worry, you won’t have to be directly involved just help me make sure he meets with an unfortunate accident. It’s bad enough I was born a second son, if my brother marries that girl and has a son I’ll never become an Earl.”

“We’ll discuss this at another time, I should return home before people start asking questions.”

“How will you explain your disappearance?”

“I’ll make up some story about going out to look for Clarke. Her husband will fall for the lie I’m sure he knows I care for her. It was rather hard to keep my emotions under control.”

“Is she really worth all this trouble?”

“Yes, I’ve never meet anyone quite like her. Her husband does not deserve her.” Fury over took me as I attempted to remain still in case Finn returned to check on me. How dare he think Bellamy was a lesser man than him. Since we had landed in this time he had been nothing but brave in the face of uncertainty. It was clear that these two had formed some sort of alliance to get rid of unwanted people in their lives. I needed to escape not just for Bellamy’s sake but for this innocent man who was going to meet an early end because of a greedy brother. There had to be a way out of this.


	8. Meanwhile back in 2018

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the comments. It's really helpful moving forward to know what you like and don't like with the story. This chapter is just a little glance into what is happening back in 2018 with Bellamy and Clarke going missing. The new chapter should also be up soon!

My first morning waking up in Scotland was amazing, despite Jasper and Monty deciding they would start speaking with a Scottish accent. It did not take long for everyone to start throwing food at them begging them to stop. That is almost everyone, Clarke still hadn’t emerged from her room. 

“Has anyone seen Clarke?”

“No not since last night.”

“I haven’t seen her either.” Maybe the time change was affecting her more than the rest of us and she was still asleep. I noticed Murphy staring at me as I walked past his table on my way to check Clarke’s room. 

“Can I help you with something?”

“Did I hear you correctly the princess is missing?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Nothing I just find it interesting that she’s not here and I can’t help but notice that neither is Bellamy.” Fuck he was right, I glanced quickly around the room, Bellamy wasn’t here either. Murphy’s comment got Jasper and Monty on their feet, suddenly Clarke absence was becoming more serious.

“If he touched a hair on her head I will break him.” Murphy laughed off Jasper’s comment. 

“You and what army, you really think you can take him on be real little boy. I’m sure they’re fine, probably finally dealing with all that sexual tension that lingers whenever they’re together.”

“In your dreams Clarke would never be stupid enough to fall for that asshole.” 

“You might be right, in that case he might have dragged her into the woods to finally get rid of her.” Murphy was enjoying getting Jasper and Monty riled up with his foolish ideas of what had happened to them. As they continued to argue, I went to look for professor Kane. I passed by Clarke and Bellamy’s room just to make sure they were actually missing not just sound asleep. When neither of them answered my knocks, I started to panic and worry something might have actually happened. 

“Sir, Clarke and Bellamy aren’t in the dinning or in their rooms, nobody has seen them since last night.” 

“Raven I understand you’re worried for your friend, but they couldn’t have gotten far. Once everyone is done eating we’re going to go look for them, they probably just went for a walk.”

“Bellamy and Clarke go for a walk together.”

“You have a point there, let’s go get the others and start looking right away.”

Hours later there were still no sign of them. Rumors we’re already circulating from declaring they were eaten alive by a wild animal to Bellamy and Clarke running away together like star-crossed lovers. Murphy was the one fueling that particularly unlikely scenario, but it was better than the one saying Bellamy had finally gotten rid of the princess and was now out in the wilderness burying the body. I knew Bellamy was no saint, but he wasn’t violent. Wild animals were a possibility but the owner of the inn claimed they never come this close. Could they really be together, I couldn’t deny that I had seen Clarke look at him with more than hatred in her eyes, and Murphy wasn’t completely incorrect when he mentioned the sexual tension between them, but still I couldn’t imagine the two of them together. 

When the sun started going down and we still didn’t have any trace of them professor Kane called in the local police and we were all sent to our rooms. Under no circumstance where we allowed to leave. Oh god Clarke I hope you’re ok.


	9. Betrayal

“Bellamy clam down, where are you going?” 

“To find Clarke.”

“And where would you even start, you don’t know where you’re going. Just stop and think for one goddamn minute.” His words made me pause, they sounded so much like something Clarke would say. I turned to face the Viscount. 

“Finn is bound to come home at some point, he doesn’t know we suspect he’s behind this.”

“WE DON’T SUSPECT, WE KNOW IT’S HIM.”

“Yes of course, pardon my turn of phrase. We know Finn is behind this but he doesn’t know we know. Let’s just wait here for him to return and then you let me deal with him. I will get the truth out of him one way or another.”

“I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but from what you’ve been telling me my son did not take your wife to cause her harm. She is safe for now.”

“That would be true, but you’ve witness it yourself Clarke has a bit of a temper. She will not take kindly to Finn taking her away.”

“I get your point, but leaving now with no idea where she is would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. I know you have no reason to, but please just trust me.” I really wanted to be out there doing something, but everything the Viscount was saying made sense. 

“Fine, but if he doesn’t show up in the next two hours we are going to see this Earl and I will get some answers.”

“Deal. Don’t worry I know my son, he will be back, he probably thinks he’s being so clever fooling us.” I don’t know how long I paced our room, but it felt like forever when I finally heard the sound of a horse from outside the window. I rushed to see who it was. I immediately recognized Finn, I could see his smugness all the way up here, he was probably sure that he had gotten away with it. I calmed myself as best I could before walking out and making my way towards the Viscount’s office. When I entered Finn was already sitting in front of his father, with a drink in his hand. There was no mistaking the meaning behind the look he gave me; don’t say a word I’ll handle this. So, I stood quietly to the side with both my hands balled up into fists as I prepared to listen to Finn’s crazy lies. 

“Where have you been son? We were worried.” I gagged at those words which earned me another firm look from the Viscount. I was going to have to control myself better if we were going to get answers from him. 

“I went out to look for Clarke I figured since Bellamy doesn’t know the area he would be useless, so I went without him.” This motherfucker is going to suffer at my hands.

“Yes, I see. Now did you find anything, any trace of Clarke.”

“Nothing, I fear she might be gone forever.” Breath in breath out, breath in breath out. I will not snap, I will stay calm. 

“While you were gone Bellamy and I were discussing the possibility that the people behind Clarke’s abduction might be the same people that started the fire in the stables.”

“That’s quite a stretch father, what gave you that crazy idea.”

“Well you see I’ve noticed lately that someone seems to be after our family, I’m not quite sure why yet, but all these events are very suspicious.” I hadn’t originally approved of the Viscount’s plan to first try to get the truth out of Finn by talking, but he was starting to sweat the more his father talked.

“But Clarke isn’t part of our family why would they take her.”

“Yes, she isn’t part of our family but you would like her to be, isn’t that right?” 

“Father I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Shouldn’t we go back outside and look for Clarke. Why are we sitting here discussing my feelings.” He finally turned towards me, acknowledging my existence for the first time since I entered the office. “Let’s go Bellamy we’ll keep looking for her.” It was clear he wanted to escape the room, escape his father’s inquisitive questions. 

“I don’t think we need to, I think you know where she is?” Saying those words while remaining calm was quite the challenge, but the look on Finn’s face made it all worthwhile.

“Know where she is? Why would I? This is complete nonsense father, why are you even humoring Bellamy by believing in this rubbish. And you, why are you trying to turn my father against me? I was right there next to you when she was taken away how could I possibly know where she is.”

“Sure, you were with me when she was taken. But then you were gone for hours without letting anyone else know where you were going. I told you to wait for me.”

“And I told you I don’t take orders from you, I decided not to wait. I’ve just explained it to you. I really don’t see why I have to stand here and be subjected to this interrogation.”

“You see Finn you can pretend all you want, but the things about lies is that they eat at you until there’s nothing left but emptiness. So now you are going to tell me where my wife is, because she does not belong to you. She’s mine and nothing you do will change that.” I knew this would provoke him, because if anyone told me Clarke wasn’t mine to protect I was prepared to tear them to pieces. I needed him to lose his cool and admit the truth. 

“Yours, she’s not yours. Don’t you see you’ve lost her, she doesn’t want you anymore. She came with me willingly, she knew about the whole plan. Don’t you remember, she left on her own. Told you to let her go. You will never see her again.” My heart stopped for a second, she knew…impossible he was trying to make me angry. And he had almost succeeded, but I knew Clarke and he would pay for making me doubt her even for a second. 

“Finn sit down.”

“No father I will not, once again you’ve proven how incompetent you are by siding with this stranger over your own son. You’ve never trusted me with anything. You treat me like I’m an idiot, but you know what, this time you’re the fool. You were right I was also behind the fire, I refuse to let you ruin this family so I decided to take matters into my own hands. The plan was to make it impossible for you to repay your debt and then I would swoop in to save you and you finally would have to acknowledge me as your equal. That’s all I ever wanted, for you to look at me with pride. Since I wasn’t going to ever get your approval, your destruction was the next best thing.” Finn was even more delusional than I had anticipated, and delusional people could be very dangerous. The Viscount was speechless at his son confession, I don’t think he suspected how deep his deceit ran.

“I don’t understand son, how does setting fire to your home help anyone. You could have burned everything to the ground.” 

“Please, I had everything under control. The point was to show everyone how useless you are, so they would look to me for leadership from now on.”

“Is that why you stood as far away as possible to the fire, nobody saw you as anything other than the coward that you are.”

“Well I wasn’t going to risk my life to save the stables. But at least I was there. That’s why I waited for a night where you left to go meet the people you owe money too. That’s right father dearest I know all about that. How do you plan on saving us now? You can’t, and I will and then everyone will respect me and you will be nothing. See how you feel being treated that way for a change.” 

“Oh Finn, where did I go wrong raising you. Yes, I’m in debt I don’t deny it, but that’s because the land hasn’t been producing as much in recent years. I’ve had to borrow money to keep the estate running. You think I ended up in this situation because of my mismanaging, that makes you an even bigger fool for not understanding the mechanism behind running such an estate. You’ve put us all at risk with your thoughtless actions. Once again proving I was right to not depend on your help when it came to overseeing everything. Now you will cease with this ridiculous tantrum, tell us where Clarke is and later we will discuss your punishment for your rash behavior.”

“No, I will not lose what I have rightfully earned. I will just need to add another person to the list.”

“List what list, son your losing it.”

“Goodbye father I don’t think we will be seeing each other again.” 

“You really think I’m going to let you walk out of here before you tell me where Clarke is?” Finn moved towards the door but I was faster than him and blocked the way. “Where is my wife?”

“Your wife is no more soon she will be mine.” That’s it he was going to get it now. However, Finn was expecting me to react that way. He used the same technique as I did earlier to make me lose my cool and gain control of the situation. How foolish was I to let my impulsiveness get the better of me? He easily avoided my fist and attacked me with his own. I barely had time to moved out of the way, but as I did I fell backwards. Landing hard on the ground and giving him a chance to run out the door. 

“Viscount snap out of it, we have to stop him from leaving.” We chased after him, but those few seconds was all he needed to escape. As we reached the stables he rode past us. I couldn’t do anything but look on as his horse ran further away from me. “He’s gone, now we have nothing. No way to find him or Clarke, no proof, and we probably just pissed him off.” 

“He wanted to destroy me, that was his whole plan. To ruin his own father, how could I have raised a son to be so ungrateful.” Fuck Finn caused mayhem wherever he went, his father was clearly devastated by what Finn had revealed. I guess suspecting your son of kidnapping someone he was in love with was one thing, but finding out he was secretly plotting your demise was a hard pill to swallow. 

“I hate to do this, because I can tell this really hurt you, but Viscount please if he gets to Clarke now I will never see her again. He’ll make sure of it.”

“You’re right, let’s first find your wife then I will put order back into my household. Come on, he can’t be very far ahead of us, we can catch him.” 

***

“You really should bring me back.” Finn had been gone for a while now, leaving me alone with this Roan person. There was no way out of the bedroom, so my only option was the front door, but like Roan had said before if I escape my chances of survivals were very slim. I needed him to take me back to Bellamy willingly. 

“And why would I do that?”

“You don’t know who you’re dealing with, my husband will never stop looking for me.” He didn’t seem particularly worried about that as he chuckled at my comment. 

“Finn thinks your worth all this trouble, but it looks to me you would rather be returned to your husband. Are you hoping he’ll find you?” If I admitted to that and couldn’t convince him to bring me back, Finn would for sure hear about it and no amount of flirting would get me out of that mess. I would have to take an approach that might convince him without Finn risking finding out I didn’t give a shit about him. 

“Of course not. Finn went through all this trouble to save me why would I hope he’ll find me?”

“So then why do you need me to take you back if your plan is not to be reunited with your husband.”

“I’m only thinking of Finn, of the danger he placed himself in by taking me in the first place. My husband is not someone you should mess around with, if he finds us I fear for Finn and your safety.” My words finally got his attention, he studied me carefully for a few seconds, as if it would be written on my forehead whether I was lying or not. 

“If you ask my opinion women are all around troublesome, no offence.”

“Offence taken, but I doubt someone like you could ever understand the importance of finding someone that means everything to you, that you can depend on and have faith in no questions asked.”

“Please, don’t bother trying to sell my all that romance crap, all that matters is status, and keeping you here assures me of Finn’s help with something I need in order to get that status. So, sit down and shut up. You might have him wrapped around your finger but it’s not going to work with me.”

“Fine, but if my husband finds us you can’t say I didn’t warn you.” Well that plan went nowhere fast. But I honestly didn’t really expect it to work, this guy seemed determined to accomplish his murderous goal and he needed Finn in order to do that, which meant there would be no convincing him. I returned to my room hoping to come up with a new plan, when Finn barged in the cottage looking frazzled.

“We need to leave now.”

“Calm down Finn, that’s not the plan.”

“It is now, if you want me to fulfill my end of the deal you will get off your ass my lord and help me get everything ready.” I could tell Roan did not like being talked to in such a way and was about to put him in his place, but Finn was having none of it. “They know, my father and Bellamy know I was involved so unless you want them to find you with her I suggest you get off your high horse and start moving. 

“What have you done, all you had to do was act innocent and you couldn’t even pull that off.” 

“They knew before I even got there, I don’t know how, but they figured it out. If they find us we’ll all have to pay so you’re going to hide us at your father’s place.”

“No way, if he finds out I’m involved in any of this, I will lose everything.”

“So, you better hope that he doesn’t find out. Clarke let’s go, you’re riding with me.”

“Is Bellamy coming?” Hope, how I had miss that feeling. 

“Yes, he won’t be far behind me, let’s go.” Roan gave me this look, as if he was regretting not taking me up on my offer. 

“Keep an eye on her.”

“Clarke, why?”

“She wanted me to bring her back to her husband earlier.” Finn’s features changed suddenly at Roan’s declaration, distorted by his anger he looked terrifying. “Calm down, she was worried about what he might do to you if he found us. Just keep her close she might try and slip away in order to protect you. I will not have her leave and mess up my plans.” 

“Clarke is that true, you wanted to return to him for me?”

“Finn, I understand why you took me and I’m grateful you risked everything for me, but I can’t let you get hurt because of me.”

“My sweet Clarke, don’t worry I won’t let him take you and I won’t let him hurt me I promise.” Moved by my desire to protect him, Finn lowered his mouth towards me. There was no escape, if I pushed him away he would be suspicious. 

“Stop trying to feel her up and let’s go. I will not be caught because you couldn’t control yourself.” Thank you, Roan, for being an asshole. Saved, but my time was running out.


End file.
